Pacific Crest Youth Arts Organization is a non-profit youth group dedicated to providing artistic performance opportunities for young people through the Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps, a Drum Corps International World Class competitor.

The Pasadena Tournament of Roses is a Presenting Sponsor of the 2017 edition of Drum Corps at the Rose Bowl. The Association’s sponsorship will allow 250 economically disadvantaged students to attend the show free of charge!

Sal Nicrone marched Drum Corps in the early 1970’s with The Chessmen in Easton, PA, and
then with the Hawthorne Muchachos in New Jersey. They were fun years and he made friendships that he still has to this day.

“When I was living in Pennsylvania my wife and I volunteered with the Cadets and C2. We also volunteered with the Reading Buccaneers, a DCA corp, where our nephew marched for two years. We made many friends as volunteers with drum corps who we are still in contact with to this day.

When we moved to California in 2014 after I retired, we wanted to continue to help with the drum corps activity. I had seen the Pacific Crest Drum Corps perform at DCI East in Allentown, so when we moved west I contacted Ed Martin to see if they needed help in their food truck, and he said yes, they were always in need of volunteers. My wife and I attended our first camp in January of 2015, and it was a good fit.

It is a pleasure to work with all the great volunteers at PC, but it is the passion and drive of the students that brings me back week after week. They push their bodies week in and week out to improve the show, from California to Indianapolis, and give up their entire summer to entertain drum corps fans. That is what drives me to provide four meals a day for the students who work from sunrise to sunset to put on their best performance night after night.

It doesn’t matter what corps you work with. They all need volunteers to step up and pitch in. A number of the people at Pacific Crest — like myself — do not have a child actively marching in corps, but they still show up and give their time.

My hope is that parents of corps members for the 2017 season will consider volunteering a few hours every other week or once a month to help with uniforms or with food service.The students really appreciate you being there, and they show great respect to the volunteers.

So if you have some time to help Pacific Crest get down the road this summer, we would love to see you, and will be happy to show you around and put you to work!!”

For more information about volunteering for Pacific Crest, click here.

Paulina Laroya joined Pacific Crest in 2015. After taking a year off, she returned for the 2017 season. Paulina is a member of our color guard and a student at UC Riverside.

Tell us about your background and family.
My hometown is Quezon City, Philippines, and I was raised there as an only child until I was five years old. When my family immigrated to America, we moved to SoCal and have been living here ever since!

What brought you to Pacific Crest?
I always knew I wanted to join drum corps, but I didn’t always know that it was something I actually would or could do. I learned about Pacific Crest when I first watched DCI: Big, Loud, and Live in the movie theaters back in 2010, and I still remember that Pacific Crest’s name was the one that incited the most cheers in the audience. Naturally, it got me curious about PC and I started to learn more and more about it. I auditioned and got contracts for other corps the year before my rookie year, but it just didn’t feel right to me. When I came to PC, it did.

How did the Pacific Crest experience impact your life?
Marching with Pacific Crest has meant so much more to me than I could possibly describe. One of my all-time favorite memories while marching has to be when we visited Rome, New York, and the corps played for Jean Joseph, an elderly woman who PC plays for every time we’re in the city. To be a part of that tradition was already such an honor, but to see her reaction, and to feel the love and sense of community when we were sitting on her front lawn was so amazing. I love those moments that make you look around at the people you spend your summer with and think, “this is why we do it.” It’s moments like these on tour when you realize how much you joy can bring to other people simply by doing something you love that make it all worth it.

How do you think Pacific Crest will affect your future goals and plans?
For a long time, I thought I was going to be one of those people that would choose their career plans and goals over color guard. That wasn’t necessarily an idea I was content with, but I kind of gave in to the notion that I need to spend my summers doing internships to be successful. I realized during my rookie season that this was not the case. Although I took one year off, I decided I just love PC too much to not come back for my age out. I’m graduating from college in March 2017 and deciding to pursue this huge passion of mine instead of clamoring and trying to find a job, so it’s obvious that PC has made a huge impact on my overall future path, and I’m so happy that this is the path that I decided to take.

Is there anything else you want to say about yourself, your life, the people who have most influenced and inspired you?
I don’t know if I’m actually capable of expressing how lucky I feel to have such great people around me that support my love for color guard. When I first started guard, no one in my family knew what it really was — they didn’t fully know why I couldn’t come to a relative’s baby shower because i had a Saturday rehearsal, or why I couldn’t come to a friend’s birthday party on a championship weekend, or why we had to schedule a trip to my home country around summer band camp — but they accepted it because they understood how much this activity means to me. I appreciate that so much. And to be on a team full of amazing and encouraging people makes everything a thousand times better.

Is there something you’d like others to know about Pacific Crest?
Pacific Crest is a home that you will not be able to find anywhere else. When I joined PC, I hadn’t performed or done anything guard-related for over two years. When I came back, PC reminded me how much I love to perform on the world’s biggest stages. I was able to grow in ways that I didn’t think I could, especially within just two months. I feel like I can come back to visit PC years after I age out and still feel like home — and there’s nothing that can beat the amazing feeling of hearing Ave Maria while being surrounded by PC alumni and members.

Hayden Ford joined Pacific Crest in 2016. The 2017 season will be his second season as a trumpet player. Hayden is a student at CSU Long Beach.

Tell us about your background and family.
Though I was born in San Diego, California, I grew up in Redondo Beach. I have one older sister named Hannah.

What brought you to Pacific Crest?
All throughout high school I played the clarinet, but at the beginning of my senior year it dawned on me that I would never be able to march again unless I learned to play a brass instrument in drum corps. From that moment I made it my goal to learn to play the trumpet and join Pacific Crest. I chose Pacific Crest because it was a local drum corps, and I had friends who had joined in previous years.

How did the Pacific Crest experience impact your life?
The 2016 summer with Pacific Crest was the most meaningful experience I’ve ever had. First of all it taught me the true meaning of dedication and accountability. It showed me how much inner strength I truly had inside me, and how much of that inner strength would be needed to get up every morning and be the best I could for the sake of the corps. The most amazing part about marching drum corps is the close bond you build with every single one of the members. At the beginning of the season I was reluctant to go on tour with 149 random people, but by the end of the season, I was reluctant to go home and leave my 149 newly found brothers and sisters.

How do you think Pacific Crest will affect your future goals and plans?
Pacific Crest has had an incredible impact on my ability to play music, and I truly believe this is because it’s taught me how to put every ounce of my being into every performance. Though I am currently studying Chemical Engineering at California State University Long Beach and do not plan to pursue music as a career, I plan to play music forever, and my lessons at Pacific Crest will always follow me for the rest of my life.

Is there anything else you want to say about yourself, your life, the people who have most influenced and inspired you?
I have always had a strong love for music, but drum corps has that love. And in addition to that, I have discovered some of my closest friends in my first season of drum corps.

Is there something you’d like others to know about Pacific Crest?
Pacific Crest is an amazing program, and is accepting of anyone and everyone! As a member, you are guaranteed to make a new family and to have the time of your life. For those still eligible to march, please do. Though it will be the most difficult and stressful time of your life, you will earn 149 new family members and you won’t regret the experience.

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Pacific Crest is funded, in-part, by the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. Thank You!

About Pacific Crest

Pacific Crest is one of North America’s most-respected performing arts organizations, serving more than 3,000 youth each year. We are Southern California’s only Drum Corps International (DCI) World Class Drum and Bugle Corps and represent SoCal at the DCI World Championships annually.